Trolley-arm head.



No. 698,979. Patented Apr. 29; I902.

F. a]. LUDOLPH.

TROLLEY ARM HEAD.

I Applicatiun filed Aug. 81, 1901. (No Model.) 2 Sheets$heet I.

(In Model;

' Patented Apr. 29, I902.

'F. J. LUDULPH.

TROLLEY ARM HEAD.

Application filed Aug. 31, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

" fimfezzzwmi UNITED STAT-us PATENT ()FFICE.

FRANK J. LUDOLPH, OF IRONDEQUOlT, NEW YORK.

TROLLEY-ARM HEAD.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 698,979, dated April 29,1 902.

Application filed August 31, 1901. Serial No. 74,040. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK J. LUDOLPH, of Irondequoit, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Trolley-Arm Heads,

which improvement is fully set forth in the;

following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. V

In using electric trolley-wires and trolleyarms for the purpose ofpropelling street-cars and for other purposes difficulty is experiencedon account of the tendency of the trolin the following specification,the invention being fully described, and more particularly pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the drawings, forming a part" of the specification, Figurel is a front view of the device looking as along the trolleywire. Fig. 2is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the yoke and associated parts, takenon the dash-and-dot line I AB in Fig. 2.

R is the trolley-arm head, comprising a yoke L and a grooved wheel 0 fortraveling the wire J. The yoke is made of metal and is secured by somesimple means at the upper end of the trolley-pole S. The yoke consistsof two main parts-that is to say, a major part a and a minor part b,Fig. 3, secured detachably to the part a by means of screw-bolts E withclamping-nuts K. Between the parts a and b is a space 0, in which isplaced the trolley-wheel O. F is a transverse axial shaft held in theyoke to cross the space 0, constituting an axle for the wheel 0 uponwhich to turn. The axle F is formed with a square head cl, occupying anangular cavity or recess 6, formed in an extended part f of the mainpart a of the yoke, as appears in Figs. 2 and 3, and held to place by ablind screwnut G. This axle is hollow, having a cavity trolley-wire J,as appears in Fig. l.

i N, as shown in Fig. 3, for holding lubricating-oillforthe wheel,openings 0 P being formed through its sides to allow the oil to passoutward to the wheel, the nut G also serving to close the cavity N.

The extreme parts or edges D D of the yoke on both sides of the wheelare in part circular and concentricwith the wheel and extend be- ;yondand cover the periphery of the wheel,

or other wires that might be encountered, and

so avoid ac cident and breakage. Upon the inner opposing faces of theguards D D are formedinward lateral projections H H, par-. tiallycovering the groove of the wheel and the These projections are directlyover the wire when the wheel is pressing the wire and extend toward eachother, leaving an opening g between them sufficiently wide to permit theWire to pass in or out, but serve to hold the wheel from leaving thewire in rounding curves or passing switches and the like. It

.is known that usually when the wheel leaves the wire by accident itdoes not move straight downward away from the wire, but by a sidewisemotion, together with the downward motion. This causes the wire to tendto move out of or escape from the yoke at one side or theother, in doingwhich it will encounter one or the other of the projections H, and so becaught and held against the wheel.

It is found in practice that the surface of the trolley-wheel in contactwith the wire is liable to become fouled with dust or other foreignnon-conducting matter, rendering the electric contact between the wireand the wheelimperfect. To overcome this difficulty, a contact-pin I isemployed, seated in a longitudin'al cavity h in the yoke, as appears inFig. 3. This pin is urged against the bottom of the groove of the wheelby a coiled spring M at the bottom of the cavity h, which serves toremove dust or other foreign matter tending to collect upon the face ofthe wheel. By means of this constant abrasion of the wheel by the pinthe surface of the former normally in contact with the wire is keptclean and free from adhering matter, insuring a perfect conductor forthe current between the wire and the trolley-pole.

The surface of the yoke at i t' is formed with an easy curve, so that incase the yoke at any time strikes the cross-wires holding thecurrent-wire it will glide easily under them and not catch or tend todisplace them.

With this construction of trolley-arm head the wheel is readilyremovable from the yoke, it being only necessary to remove the axle F,when the wheel will drop out from between the guards, as will be readilyunderstood by viewing Fig. 2.

Vhat I claim as my invent-ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. A trolley-arm head comprising a yoke and guard-flanges, which latteron their upper sides are concentric with the Wheelfiange and havecontinuations extendingrearwardly and downwardly to a point below thebottom of the groove of the wheel, said continnations being tangentiallydisposed from a point in vertical line with the axis of the wheelrearward when said wheel and head are in operative position, as setforth.

2. A trolley-arm head comprising a yoke and guard-flanges thereon, saidflanges on their upper sides being concentric with the wheel-flange andhaving continuations extending rearwardly and downwardly toapoint belowthe bottom of the groove of the Wheel, said continuations beingtangentially disposed from a point in vertical line with the axis of thewheel when said wheel and head are in operative position, said flangesbeing provided upon theirinner faces in verticalline with the axis ofthe wheel with intnrned protuberances, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 22d day of August,1901, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK J. LUDOLPII.

\Vitnesses:

M. SMITH, M. D. PHILLIPS.

